If you add TSP-substitute (usually found in the paint aisle of the hardware store) to Oxyclean (in a 2:1 ratio, but I always forget which one is the 2, so I end up just using a tablespoon of each per gallon) you essentially make PBW (a very good product, by the way, just a bit expensive if you use it for all your brewery cleaning).ColoradoBrewer wrote:Both are percarbonate cleaners and that's what is important. You can buy OxyClean at the grocery store if you don't' have a Costco or other discount store near you. Neither PBW or OxyClean are sanitizers so you'll also need one of those.
Percarbonate is an odd one in the cleaner/sanitizer classification. It's a good cleaner. It also sanitizes, BUT, it has a long contact time to be effective (30 minutes, I believe) and it needs to be rinsed, which makes it useless as a pre-use sanitizer. However, using percarbonate cleaner after brewing, but before you put things away, and letting things soak for 30 minutes (or close to it) means you're putting your stuff away clean and nearly sanitized. It also means you're not totally dependent on a single sanitizer, which can lead to the buildup of "bugs" resistant to the one sanitizer.